


A Switch In Plans

by MaddieMare



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Angel Bendy, Badass Boris, Boris and the Swap Machine, Foul Language, Swap Characters, satanic rituals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2018-10-18 04:53:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10609671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieMare/pseuds/MaddieMare
Summary: The cartoon industry has been through some pretty rough competition. Because of this, two cartoon characters have been "edited" for purposes.The origins of Boris and the Swap Machine(This story was created before chapter 3 came out, so some things in here may be wrong. For example, I had to make random characters to fill in parts and I thought Norman Polk was a musician, not a projectionist.)*DISCONTINUED*





	1. The Idea

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based off this Bendy and the ink machine AU called Boris and the swap machine. I haven’t seen a lot of stories about it, so I decided to make my own. This might not be accurate to the original story, I do not own BATSM. If you want to learn more about this AU, here's the site.  
> https://borisandtheswapmachine.tumblr.com/

 

Most cartoons were made for the youngsters. Hell,  _ all  _ of them are made for a younger audience! Competition in the animation industry began breaking down so quickly that only a cartoon about a cat and a mouse remained in the spotlight. The rest of those other cartoons will most likely never reemerge from the forgotten trash heaps.

We were all running out of ideas at this point. It won’t be long now before we ourselves will be thrown back jobless onto the streets. We have to think of something else, something new, something no one else has. But what kind of cartoon would children be interested in anymore, their brain are already filled with those weird clothed farm animals. 

...Wait.

What if it weren’t children we advertised this to? Do those college students or any other adults even like those confusing cartoons?

Then it’s settled, we’ll make a cartoon for the older audience! No one came up with that idea yet! Just gotta get an okay from good old Henry and we’ll be getting money through the roof!

\-----

“What?”

“Hear me out Henry, this is sure to bring us into business. No one has pitched this idea yet.” There was a long pause before Henry reached up to scratch his forehead. Sighing, he replied. “Are you sure about this Joey?” 

“Yep.”

“...Okay, lets try this then. But if this becomes a waste of time, we’ll both be out of jobs.”

“Sure thing boss, I’ll work on the character sketches right away!” With that he turned to leave. 

“Wait!” 

There was a pause between the two animators. Henry gathered up his thoughts and continued. 

“Just make one, It’ll be better to just have two characters. I’ll make the other.”

Though confused, Joey conceded. “Okay fine, whatever.” 

The office was filled with awkward silence once the young animator excused himself. Henry folded his ink-covered hands on his desk, once again lost in thought.

“Hmm, this  _ could  _ work. Heh, you sure are full of ideas aren’tcha Joey?”

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

His wrist were sore, but he finally got it done. 

Remnants of crumbled paper shrouded the animator’s desk. On top of the abandoned sketches resided a final product. A cartoon wolf. Boris the Wolf to be exact. 

Sinking into his seat, Henry gathered the clean wolf sketch and examined his work. The Boris character he made was a tall, black-coated wolf wearing classic overalls. Now that he taught about it, it really resembled that Goofy dog...thing. He didn’t even know what that thing was. 

A knock on his office door took his attention from the drawing. Probably Joey. “Come in!”

The ink-haired animator clumsily entered into the confined office, carefully stepping over the lost pens and abandoned paperwork. Once he made it past the sea of forgotten junk, he simply handed his draft to the other. Without even looking at the drawn character could Henry tell that this “final sketch” was a complete mess. It was almost engulfed in sticky ink, at any moment it could rip right off. Henry had to hold the paper carefully in order to keep it from collapsing on itself. In the center of the paper was a sketch of a small demon-like creature with a devil-like smile.

Henry glared at Joey with pure irritation. 

“What the fuck Joey?!”

Joey gave an impish grin. “What'd Ya mean Henry, you don’t like Bendy’s design?”

Henry clenched his teeth. Joey sure knew how to be a total jackass when he wanted to. “We can’t have a demon in the show! We’ll get sued and shut down!”

“Oh common, those older kids will love Bendy, thanks to angst and all...What are you doing?”

Henry placed the ink-drenched paper to the far right corner of his desk as he fished a clean pile of blank paper. “Well Joey,” Henry began. “Since you’re not taking this seriously, I’ll just have to  _ redesign _ your devil friend.” 

Joey held back protesting. Henry was the type of person you could never persuade them to do. He was like that saying, “As stubborn as a mule.” Or in this case, a stubborn  _ pregnant _ mule. 

As Henry sketched away, Joey took a glance at animator’s own creation. A wolf, really?

“Hey Henry, since you’re working, can I just add a little something to-”

“I don’t want your satan-worshipping mind making these characters into demonic hooligans!”

Wow, tough crowd.

“I’ll just want to edit small things...and his personality. It’s like a goofy clone.”

Henry stayed silent for a moment, but reluctantly gave the wolf sketch to his troublesome co-worker.

“Just don’t do anything stupid Drew.” He spoke in a defeated voice.

The paper was snatched from his hands and the door was kicked opened, the sound of feet tapping along the wooden floor echoed through the studio.

The switch has just begun. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last part is so cringy I’m sorry! But I’ll probably be making longer chapters soon, I just want to thank everyone who read this so far. This is not one of my best stories, but I think it’s getting there.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my diddly gosh, Senpai noticed me!~ 
> 
> https://borisandtheswapmachine.tumblr.com/post/160202052997/a-switch-in-plans-maddiemoviemare-bendy-and

In the end, everything about Bendy was changed. Henry didn’t want to mess with any demonic stuff, and there was no way he would ever mess with that kind of stuff. To prove his point, the old demonic version of Bendy was transformed into a naive, child-like angel being. If this is being targeted towards teenagers like Joey suggested, maybe Bendy can be a second character for the teenage girls and possible younger audience. Girls like cute angels right? How the hell would he know. 

In addition to the new and improved Bendy the Angel, he created another character by the name of Alice the Angel. The two could be siblings or something, Joey would probably want them as lover. 

They’d discuss that later, for now, he had to find Joey to see what crazy changes he’s made to Boris. He insert both of his sketches into a relatively new folder, and walked out of his office door. 

The layout of the studio wasn’t something too grand, it was almost like an office building, but with drafting table filling the hallways and extra vacant rooms. They’d have to start hiring extra animators and voice actors in order to bring this cartoon to life. Sammy’s gonna have to start making some music pieces once the characters are shown. That guy is sure going to complain about everything once production starts. 

Turning the corner, Henry could hear the hums of his partener tuning the outside world out as he worked. 

_ That's the only thing I respect you for Joey _

Henry crept stealthily behind the unobservant animator, a devilish smirk stretched with every step. 

You see, whenever Joey's is focused at the task at hand, he's oblivious to everything around him. Which makes him the perfect victim for unexpected jumpscares. 

“RAAAAAA-”

“-AAHHHHHHHHH!!”

After that quick exchange, a unnerved animator laid hyperventilating on the floor while the other tried desperately the catch his breath from the laughing attack. 

He didn’t even do a full scare, but the results were priceless.     
After Joey gathered up his shaken frame, a long lecture was given to the Henry who still had tears caught in his eyes. 

Catching his breath from the long scolding, Joey turned to Henry with a bright face. 

“I just finished Boris by the way. Thank god a put the pen down before you arrived.” 

He held up the paper he’d been working on which was, surprisingly cleaner than his last piece. On the paper were mini sketches of Boris, there weren’t any physical changes asides from some with cigarettes in his mouth and one with a kilt. No one could deny that the kilt looked charming on the furry creature.

“Well, what do you think?” 

Henry shook his head in agreeance. “Good job Drew, maybe we can make  _ him _ the main toon instead of Bendy. But what’s his personality like exactly?”

“Oh, he’s kind of like a young adult, has some angst. He’s like a rebel of a sort.”

“So boys  _ and  _ girls could relate to him? Interesting, like a role model in a way. Maybe he can be like a big brother for Bendy”   
Joey perked up in curiosity, but then smiled. “Oh yeah, you changed Bendy. How’s the little guy look now?”

Henry rolled his eyes in amusement as he fished his Bendy sketch out. He couldn’t wait for Joey's reaction.

“Right here.” He handed the paper out to Joey, who accepted it with a grin that slowly dropped the longer he stared at it. His eyes shifting around the paper as if deciphering some ancient writing or something. Seeing a demon transformed into an angel is probably something an occultist wouldn’t appreciate. 

“It’s pretty good.”   
Confusion fumed through Henry’s brain at the simple compliment. “What, really?”

Joey smiled as he nodded his head. “Yeah Henry, I respect your decision.” He flipped the paper over to reveal it to Henry. “But if you wanted Bendy as a girl, you could’ve just told me! Why, I bet she would look sexier as a demon if you know what I mean.”

Of course he had to mix up the papers. His face flushed as he snatched the Alice sketch from Joey’s grasp. “It’s just a sketch, we might not even use her.” 

Joey’s smile just grew wide. “I didn’t know you wanted  _ that  _ kind of cartoon.” Henry muttered as he swapped the two papers, giving the originally intended one to Joey. 

This time, Joey shrugged as he returned the sketch to Henry.

“Pretty good. Yeah, I can totally see Bendy as the naive one, smart move Henry. But if we add Alice,  _ can  _ she be a demon?”

“We’ll see about that.” Henry murmured. “But for now, let’s just to focus on getting some animator and voice act-”

The sound of footsteps slamming into the wooden floor caught the two off guard as a rather alarmed composer appeared in the hallway. Sweat was pouring down the man's head as if he were running from a wild boar. 

“Sammy?” An alarmed Joey asked. “What are you doing here? Are you okay?” 

Sammy just growled. “I leave all the instrument laying around when I hear a loud yell, run up twenty flights of stair, loose my keys, and when I get here you ask me if  _ I’m  _ okay?!” 

Henry bit his lips. He forgot Sammy was moving the music equipment into the building today. Sammy was known to be quite defensive when those he considers ‘close to him’, were in peril. It’s best not to joke about when he's around. 

“Lawrence, sorry about that, it was just a little joke. I kind of forgot you were here.” A dry laugh was added to lighten the mood, but Sammy kept his stern face. 

“-But it’s good you're here Sammy!” Joey butted in. “B’cause we just finished making characters for you to compose for.”

Sammy raised an eyebrow, his bitter expression lightened in interest. “Really?”

“Yep, here ya go!” Joey shoved both wolf and angel sketches into Sammy’s rough hands. He only examined them for a minute before returning them to Joey.

“Ok, I think I got a pretty good idea for their songs. An angel and a wolf. I just need an orchestra and we’re good to go. I’ll go give a few friends a call.” He turned and walked down the corridor, muttering a bit of his lost keys. 

Henry looked back to Joey, to which was handed back to him politely. The two exchanged a few laughs before Henry began walking back to his office. 

“Hey Henry, wait!”

Henry turned around to hear what Joey had to say.

“Since I let you change Bendy completely, it’s only fair if I do the same. So can I please have Alice?”

He should’ve seen this coming.

Searching through his folder, Henry pulled out the sweet sketch of Alice Angel, and gave it to the man that would change her into a demon. Good luck, Alice!

Joey sat at his desk and started sketching right away. Henry walked down the vacant hallway, planning out their first storyboard in his mind. 

Yeah, they won’t be using Alice anytime soon if she’s a demon. There is no way that Henry would mess around with demonic-shit. No absolute way.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theres totally "no" way Henry will lose his mind and start performing satanic rituals, no "flippin" way!


	4. Chapter 4

Things were looking great for the small studio.

Their first cartoon got positive reviews and reactions from the public. Other congratulated them for the clever idea of an older audience. By the time the second episode aired, audience above the age 20 watched the silly cartoon alongside some younger audience who manage to sneak past strict parents, or were allowed.

When Bendy was introduced in “Heaven’s Song”, he became a beloved favorite amongst younger children who didn’t even watch the show.

Needless to say, the animation studio managed to grab attention of audience from a mix of ages.

Inside the studio where it all began, animator filled each room drawing away like busy bees, songs and records blared through the music studio, rooms showcased latest episodes for testing, and all in all everyone was honestly having a blast. 

Anyone who has or still does work behind the scenes of cartoons, would all guarantee that the best part about it is all the friendly people and fun that comes to bringing the cartoons to life. Many people have gotten closer from all the work, especially the lead animators. 

Though Joey will bug Henry about adding Alice or Henry mocks Joey of his over observant behavior, the two are like close brothers. Either they drag the other to bedrest due to a sprained wrist or one of them made the other a warm bowl of bacon soup, the two did have a strong bond. They were partners after all. 

As each day came to an end, actors, animators, animators and musicians would bid each other goodbye and return home to their families or just the silence of their homes.  

On one of these such days, Joey Drew had stumbled upon a fine young lady named Jenny. The two would share their love and belief of satanism and other such things. With each visit, their close bond developed from close friendship to growing love.

It took Joey all his courage to buy a wedding ring for his significant other, that and all the animation he had to catch up on for the latest Boris the Wolf episode. The proposal was one of the best nights the two had experienced. The two laughed and cried as they waltzed hand to hand down the street. But before the two went their separate ways to their homes, Jenny had a serious concern for Joey. 

After they said their goodbyes, Joey had to make a hard decision. 

\-----

“What do you mean you’re leaving?!”

Joey scratched the back of his head. Yep, this was what he expected. Guilt. 

After ten years of putting blood, sweat, and tear into this cartoon together, Joey never thought it would all end because he was engaged. That was the reason guilt coursed through him.

Joey shut his eyes to avoid Henry’s distraught demeanor. He didn’t want to, but he had to explain himself. 

“Well recently, I...proposed to Jenny. And she said that I should take a break from animation for a while...” Henry face flashed with horror. “-Until we get settled is all!” 

Henry still held an unsure expression. He knew something like this would eventually happen. Joey always joked about leaving when he got all the ladies. But it seemed as though one was enough to get the lad love-struck.

He was happy for Joey.

Forcing a smile, Henry walked over to the guilt-drenched Joey and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

“It’s fine Joey, I understand. Getting married is a pretty big deal. But here’s a tip, don’t get drunk at the Afterparty, they’ll leave you faster than that rattlesnake trying to escape Boris’ death stare.”

That reference made the departer more heartwarming. The two exchanged some laughs and jokes before the clock stricted nine. 

Joey gave Henry a final pat on the back. Henry locked eyes with the engaged man. “You promise you’ll come back?”

His reply was a cheerful smile. “Of course Henry, ya know I never break a promise.”

Joey walked towards the exit, but before leaving he called out to Henry one last time. 

“Just leave my desk the way it is! I’ll be back in no time!”

With one last step, Joey Drew, the creator of the ever famous Boris cartoon, left his old life behind, and marched forward.

  
  


He never came back.

He promised.

Everything is falling apart.

After  _ he _ left, many others followed behind soon afterwards. They all said the same thing, claiming to have more to do in life, or that they too were getting their lives changed for the better.

Whenever someone left, animator or actor, the longer it took to make the cartoons. And one of the things that audience lack of is patience. So the longer it took to make one little short, more people lost interest in the cartoon. And whenever more people lost interest, the more animators and actors would give up and leave. It was only a matter of time before the cycle would end with no one remaining.   
The few that did stayed behind struggled to piece back the good old days that were shattered by the ones that left. But something that's been broken, can never be fixed again.

Most began to give up as the creator’s dreams continued to shatter. Sammy Lawrence, Susie Campbell, Eddie Heave, and even Henry started doubt himself. It even got to a point when the remaining animators and actors started to pack up their things and leave studio to rot. The group were going to have a short ceremony to honor the years of working at SillyVisions. They were waiting in the main hall for Henry who was packing some last minute belongings. The studio was his home after all. 

Stashing the last of his sketchbooks in his handbag, Henry made his way down the vacant hallways. Anyone would get lost in them, but he knew the path by heart. But today, he just wanted to wander these maze pattern halls one last time. His mind had no particular destination, he just let his feet do the walking. His feet just so happened to stumble upon the abandoned desk of his old pal Joey Drew.

Joey said he would come back to collect his stuff, but as you can tell, he never did. Might as well send it to him, or at least try to.

Henry placed his handbag on the ground as he began to hunt for any of Joey’s personal items.

Some dry pens, old photos, this was all bringing back painful memories. After Henry had thurley scanned the desk, most that was were old junk he was sure Joey would have no use for. 

But other than those worthless finds, a dusty book was found amongst a mass of ripped paper in the back drawer. 

Like anyone, interest insisted for Henry to take a peak of Joey’s mysterious book. Blowing off the dust with a mild puff, Henry stood paralyzed to the title. 

_ The Illusion of Living. _

Was Joey serious about summing an actual demon?! No wonder he enjoyed his private little corner. He could read his demonic books in the safety of not being judged by fellow animators. 

Henry was quite disturbed by this sudden finding...but also intrigued.

What did  _ “Illusion of Living” _ mean? Did this book bring things to life?

...Could it bring cartoons to life?...

Henry seated himself on the floor, reading reading page brought more hope for Henry to revive his lost cartoon. Everything seemed easy and quite difficult to deny, but did he really want to do this?

…

He had nothing to lose.

\-----

“What’s taking Henry so long, we should have left an hour ago!”

Sammy winced at Eddie’s outburst. The remaining employees of the SillyVision have been waiting patiently for their boss to return and bid their goodbyes to the company. Eddie’s complaints only made the group more tensed.

“Ed dear, this is all a big change for Henry. He’s leaving everything he’s ever known for crying out loud, show some decency!”

Ah yes, Merida Targett, the most rational employe of SillyVision. Always putting others before herself. Who wouldn’t love this woman?

“I’ve had decency ten minutes ago! I say we just get and leave!”

The two’s petty argument was interrupted by the sound of footsteps echoed through the barren studio. Henry himself appeared in the main doorway not long after. 

His eyes were frenzy as if seeing a ghost of sort. The Henry that stood before them seemed more vivid than he has ever been for the last few weeks.

“Henry?” Sammy stepped forward, growing more concern for his friend’s sudden change in behavior. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

Henry shook his head. “I’m more than fine Sammy!” He frantically removed something from his messy hand bag. In his hands, he held out black hardcover book. 

_ The Illusion of Living. _

“This book,” He choked out. “It’ll help us with everything! We won’t have to quit our jobs!”

“But before we do that, we just have to make a little deal.”

 


	5. Chapter 5

“Henry, though I respect your decisions...making a satanic ritual isn’t one of your best idea.”

Sammy’s advice didn’t seem to phase Henry. The animator continued to mark an ink pentagram onto the wooden floors all the while reading the instructions carefully to perfect the ritual without any flaws. Sammy was the only one to be helping Henry with the ceremony, everyone else stayed near the entrance not wanting to be included in Henry’s shenanigans. Merida of course, told the two to be careful while Eddie and Wally scoffed in the background. 

Henry proceeded to light the candles alongside the inky pentagram. With each one lit, it layered a darker atmosphere in the confined space the two men resided in. 

Henry shook the match dry once the last candle was sparked to life. He read through the book thoroughly. “Looks like that’s everything.” He turned to Sammy who was standing paranoid in the corner. 

“All we have to do now is summon him.”   
Sammy twisted his face in confusion. “Summon who?”

“...The gods, demons, SATAN for crying out loud Sammy! It shouldn’t be hard to figure that out.”

The music director felt sick. Henry really  _ was  _ losing it. He just wanted to get the hell out of there, but he had to help Henry out of his delusions. His cartoon dream isn’t coming back, it never will. He just had to stay there, for Henry.

But unable to find the proper words to snap Henry back to reality, he reluctantly walk over to Henry to assist him with the ritual. 

“So what do we have to do?”

“Just gotta recite these words and wish for what we want, easy.” Without giving any warning, Henry began the ritual. 

**** “Hear these words, hear my cry, Spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee. Cross the now Great Divide!”

There was silence. Henry looked down to the ground dismally, and Sammy had to force the sigh of relief down his throat. 

Before either of them could speak, the candles went out at once, leaving the room in a feeling of unease and a sudden drop in temperature. 

Even in the darkness of the room, Sammy could see woodland brown flooring being deprived from its comforting colors, and replaced with emotionless gray and black evil.  

The floors and walls were covered by the dripping substance, they were approaching Henry. 

Sammy wanted to scream, wanted to run. He wanted to drag Henry out of there and never enter the studio again! But he couldn’t. He couldn’t find the power to do any of those things, all he could do was stand helpless in fear as the ink-like essence engulfed Henry like a cocoon. 

He didn’t know how long he stood there paralyzed, but not long after the essence wrapped around Henry, he found himself desperately scraping the substance with his hands. It felt like ink, sticky, almost sick like. 

His efforts were cut short when the ink cocoon erupted, leaving an unconscious Henry laying on the re-colored floor. The candles were relit, everything was normal.

As if nothing happened. 

Sammy dropped onto his knees and frantically shook Henry’s limp body. 

“Henry, Henry! Wake up, please!”

Sammy’s mind was racing, he could have swore he felt tear gather up in his eyes. A forced cough escaped Henry’s clogged throat, air was traveling back into his lungs. Before Sammy could say anything, Henry shot up to his feet, knocking over the music director. 

Sammy quickly got to his feet and put his arms on Henry’s shoulders. “Henry! Are you okay?! What happened?!”

“He said we’ll get a machine,” Henry stated out of nowhere, leaving Sammy in pure confusion. “But we need to give him something in return.”

“W-what!? Give-who? What machine-”

“Just let me do the talking.”

Henry’s demeanor was completely changed. It was cold, emotionless. His eyes were as dull as ink. 

\-----

“You want us to give you our stuff?”

“No Susie, I just want each of you to donate  _ one  _ thing for the Break Room. Once we do this, we won’t have to animate anymore. Asides from backgrounds and minor characters of course.”

Most of the Silly Vision crew remained silent. Wally was giving perplexed signals while Susie and Eddie had the vibe of being locked up with a deranged man. 

Getting irritated by the silence, Henry barked at the dumbfounded employes. “Go on, get to work!”

Each went their separate ways. To their offices to unpack for Henry’s “plan”, and scurraging through their bags to find anything to “appease the gods.”

Walking through the halls, Sammy and Merida with Wally tagging along were sharing concerns and ideas of what would await them in the future. 

“I think Henry lost his mind. This animation stuff is getting to his head. If only he hadn’t found that darn book!”   
“I’m more concern of his health being. Sammy, what exactly happened with you two?”

“...I don’t want to talk about it.”

While turning a corner, the three almost crashed into Susie who was rushing through the halls with a mutilated Boris plushie. 

“...Is  _ that  _ what you’re offering Susie?”

The actress scoffed. “Well, I’m planing on getting a new one either way. These plushies are good stress balls when squeezed. Henry does  _ only  _ use me to voice dumb chicken and whiny damsels.” As she spoke, she twisted the head of the torn Boris doll. Stuffing seeped out of it’s left eye.

“What are you guys giving?” She asked innocently all the while still suffocating the doll. 

“Just some old ink I barely use. Sammy’s probably going to give one of his old records.”

Man this woman knew him too well. 

\-----

Once again, the Silly Vision employes, including Sammy, waited outside the Break Room as their boss positioned each of their offerings on conveniently found pedestals. Why would they even have those in the first place?

Henry placed the last offering given by Wally on the remaining pedestal. As he did this, demonic whispers echoed through his mind. Each feeding him blueprints and plans as a reward. 

The materials needed were within reach of the animator. All he had to do after that was sprinkle a little bit of life. 

The machine makes the bodies, the ritual brings life. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were six sacrifices. Seven people offered them. Can you figure it out?


	6. Chapter 6

“Stupid Henry, making me work longer, not even getting a raise.” The angry mutterings of the custodian filled the studio halls as he installed pipes throughout each room and slowly made more progress on Henry’s his  _ Ink Machine.  _ And somehow, Henry managed to get his hands on these blueprints. He knew nothing on machinery so  _ how  _ did he manage make a blueprint for this weird machine?! Wally didn’t like this one bit. But hey, there weren’t much job offerings out there, and Henry paid him a pretty decent amount of checks, so who was he to care about? 

The other employes were sent straight to work by Henry. Sammy and Susie went down to the music department, Eddie was in the screening room go over the old tapes, Merida at her desk drawing backgrounds scenes and Henry just stayed locked in his office. He told Wally to get him once the machine was complete. After three days, Wally knocked on his door. 

Henry barged out of the office with  _ The Illusion of Living  _ in his hand, but that wasn’t what made Wally’s gut clench. It was the fact that had Henry greased his hair to make two  _ devil horns _ . This made the custodian wonder what Henry was  _ doing  _ cooped up in his room for days?

Henry was already down the hall before Wally could clear his head. He sprinted down after his deranged boss who already stood just at the entrance to  _ The Ink Machine _ . 

Henry eyed the machine, and then turned to a panting Wally. “Looks promising Wally. Call Sammy over, I’ll need some help with this.” 

Wally groaned in frustration, but made his way to the staircase. Henry looked back at the machine, and then to the book in his hands. They were whispering to him again. 

\-----

“After you push turn on the Ink Pressure, you have to go to the Break room and turn on the Main Power. And that's all you need to activate the machine.” 

“Wait, don’t we need the...objects on the pedestals in order for the machine to work?”

“Oh yeah, I almost forget.” Wally wince while trying to avoid the pissed stare from Henry. “The machine just won’t turn on Sammy. You  _ have  _ to have all six item on each pedestal. It’s like a weight thing.” 

Sammy shook his head in understandment and turned to Henry. “So what did you call me for? Are we going to start up this thing?”

Henry shook his head. “I need you to run down to the Testing room and turn on the Ink Pressure. Call out to Wally and he’ll activate the Main Power. I want you both to run back here once you’re done, alright?”

Sammy suppressed a sigh. “Sure, I guess.” And walked down the corridor with Wally lagging behind. The custodian peaked one last time behind his shoulder at his boss, but then hurried to the Break room. 

Sammy stood and waited. Soon enough, he heard the sound of pumps being activated, Ink dripping in the halls, and footsteps echoing through the studio. 

The Ink Machine began moving.

\-----

Sticky ink soaked into the wooden floor-boards as the machine came to a halt. Sammy and Wally both stood motionless in the doorway, neither of them able to move. 

Henry was just meters away from the machine. Unlike the two men behind him, Henry was ecstatic, though he refused to show his emotion. 

The three men had been staring at a large pile of ink that the machine had spilled out, but this ink was different. It seemed to be wrapped around something, almost like a cocoon. 

Then it started to move. 

The two men in the doorway would have scream by now, but they were too paralyzed in fear to move. Like their brains shut down. 

The cocoon-ink sack began to morph in an unnatural way. Twisting, squirming, droplets of ink squeezed out. It was sickening. 

It suddenly shot up, legs formed on it, a body was being constructed on it. Grunting noises were heard as it rigged up into a proper standing position. By the time the ink monster finally formed, it easily towered over the three men who watched in pure terror. 

The familiar figure of Boris looked around the room. When his cartoonish eyes caught sight of the men in front of him, he tilted his head to the side in curiosity, almost like a young pup. 

Henry gave the wolf a smile. “Hello Boris, it’s nice to finally meet you. Welcome to the real world.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will probably be of Boris exploring the real world.


	7. Chapter 7

If Henry had to be honest, bringing Boris to life had some minor...complications.

For one, Boris caused many accidents, both incidental and intentional. These accidents were listed as followed: Petrifying all the SillyVision employees whenever he appeared through the doorway or from the occasional ink pile appearing out of nowhere, causing many interior destruction to the studio with his abnormal strength, freaking out over drawings of Bendy and himself, ink all over the corridors which formed a very pissed Wally for everyone to deal with at the end of the day. And how could he forget; the most unlikable, hot tempered, mean spirited, douchebag personality that Joey just _had_ to give to the main star of their cartoon.

He still wished he had the chance to strangle that kid.

But on the dimly lit side with a few positivity, their show has been praised for getting fast weekly releases and kudos to Boris’ realistic and clean animation’s. Comments like those were able to fuel Henry for hours on end.

Even with all those good results on his end, Henry had to agree that Boris was losing his focus for the show, it almost seemed unhealthy. He looked...so lonely.

Almost like Henry himself.

Whenever the wolf’s scenes were all filmed for the next episode, the wolf tended to stray away from the other employes and Henry. Vanishing into a pile of ink or wandering around on a piece of blank paper. And his temper seemed to worsen, so you can guarantee he despised being bossed around by the animators.

With a sigh of frustration, Henry carelessly threw his pen aside and exited from his office to the Break Room, abandoning his current work for the day.

Strolling through the corridor, the animator passed hundreds of ink piles as well as a riled Wally furiously scrubbed the wooden floorboards with what he presumed by be a concoction of bleach, baking soda and whatever other chemicals he stumbled upon in his closet.

Once arriving at his destination, Henry leaned against the wooden wall and practiced the basic breathing exercises his worried coworkers assigned to him. He didn’t understand the purpose of these useless exercises, but they did a better job at calming him down than punching at the walls or screaming at the top of his lungs whenever progress was delayed for whatever reason (mostly due to Boris). Though, he still preferred smoking from the latter, but if was caught doing it in the studio, he’d be sure that his head would be on a stake without hesitation.

Even with his mind half in bay, a simple creek of the floorboards cut off all his ties to some rare peace. He whipped his head to the door frame, only to find Merida with her weekly purchase of coffee and donuts.

“Merida, what are you doing? I told you not to buy snacks anymore.”

The mid-aged animator shifted in place, her mouth twisting as she seeked a simply lie for her red-handed discovery. But if any of the employes in Silly Vision knew, you can never lie directly in Henry’s face. “Mhh...a. I, uh...wanted to give....Boris a treat to, cheer him up. He’s been quite down for a while...if you haven't noticed.”

Henry rolled his eyes as he folded his arms. “Of course I had. That wolf can be a pain in the ass if he means to or not. Damn Joey, making stupid decisions for me to deal with.”

Merida frowned. She looked down to her purchased goodies. Reaching into the paper bag, she obtained a chocolate glazed donut and offered it to the hot-headed animator. And of course, he complied to the latter’s offering. Who wouldn’t take up a free pastry?

Henry chewed absentmindedly on the chocolaty treat  while his eyes were fixated on the main power switch. Apparently Henry found the machine much more interesting than Merida standing awkwardly besides him, as if trying to gain the other's attention. And Henry was clearly growing aggravated.

“Well, are you just gonna stand there or say something dammit!” The animator snapped, surprising both Merida and himself from his sudden outburst.

“O-oh, sorry Henry. I just, well...you probably know about Boris’ violent outburst lately right?” Henry nodded, choosing to keep his mouth shut before spouting any further hurtful comments. He continued to consume the rest of his half-eaten dessert while his co-worker cleared her throat to pursue her concerns. “Well, since Boris is... _alive,_ he probably has the same emotions and feelings like us, humans. He thinks like us, he breathes like us. Ever since he was brought into this dimension of physics, he hasn't really bothered, or wanted to interact with us because we’re different. And when we make new cartoons, it’s like we _force_ him to interact with cutout copies of the cartoons in his world, as well as Bendy. And since he’s like us...he’s probably lonely. Think about it! Humans are known for being a species of communication, and we’re making Boris talk with a bunch of puppets! We need to help Boris before he loses himself in insolation, or even insanity. I think that you should create Bendy with the machine so Bori-”

“Are you kidding me Merida!” Henry bellowed, letting out all the mysterious frustration building up in him onto the poor animator. “That’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard! You know how much ink we wasted for just Boris?! I don’t want to deal with twice the pain in the ass! I not gonna do another _fucking_ ritual just so that god damn wolf doesn’t drive himself insane! You know what? To hell with this! He _deserves_ this isolation, I don’t fucking _care_ anymore! Just like Joey didn’t care about leaving me to rot on my own!!”

Henry began breathed heavily from his rant, his face was half red like the color of a tomato, but a tint of purple began to form around his neck and face, a clear sign that he didn’t bother to breath during his outburst.

And boy did he regret it.

With his breathing at ease once again, he focused back to Merida.

Fear.

Henry’s expression morphed into terror. What was he doing? He was usually so collected, what was happening to him? It’s like he’s becoming like…

“I-I’m sorry Merida. I just, I’ve been stressed for a while I...I didn’t mean to.”

Merida looked to the side. Trying hard not to make directly eye contact with her boss.

“...fine. I’ll do it.”

Merida peeked back at Henry, eyebrows raised on her still saddened expression. Henry took in a deep breath, he was going to need it.

 _“I can’t believe I’m going with this”_ “I’ll make Bendy. It’ll take awhile to get enough ink, but I can make it happen.”

“Oh that's just swell Henry!” The once somber animator was now happily jumping in place like a little child on Christmas day. “I’m sure Boris will be back to his old self in no time with the little angel! Animations will be much easier and perhaps Boris’ jokes will calm down a bit! Oh right, I still have to give everyone else their own orders. Anyway, “I’ll see you later Henry, thanks again!”

The echo of heels depleting with every step indicated that the cheery employe has gone off to share her sugary treats with the rest of the Studio. And with that, Henry leaned against the wall to support his further frustration.

But hey, if he did this, maybe the reviews will get higher. Perhaps the reappearance of Bendy will spark a line of new viewers to the show.

“Yeah,” Henry agreed to himself. “This will be fine.”

He could just ignore the whispers during the ritual again. He could do it himself. He doesn’t need _anyone._

\-----  
Production in the Studio has been calmer than past experiences. Animation and voice overs have been diminished into backgrounds and other one-off characters. Boris and in addition Bendy have been making the employes of SillyVision’s jobs much easier. But the cofounder of the company, Henry, has spent most of his days locked up in his office.

 _“Who knows what the guy is planning.”_ Wally Franks paused outside the director's door, but proceeded on his task.

He didn’t even want to know.


End file.
